Pontins Hemsby

please don;t go .never been to pontins before and will never go again .dirty smelly chalet . holes in bed settee /stais all over it/ fithly carpet/ rusty bath/ all i can say is please please don't go there. have been on loads of sun holidays sun holidays in great caravans with showers and even ensuites some times and central heating so just thought this would be the same or clean at least how wrong can you be! we kept calling it the prison came and said we were going to tunnel out humour was the only thing that kept us going . we didn,t expect the ritz for a 9.50 hol but a clean chalet is not too much to ask. pontins should be ashamed of themselves.

The chalet and the site was very basic, however it was clean, and the staff were very helpful and friendly. In particular the "Blue coats". We were a large family in three chalets and the blue coats did everything to make us feel welcome. Really enjoyed it. However I must say, having to buy tokens for the electric was a pain, it would have been better to pay the extra and have the electric included. The food was not good in the complex, luckily there are some excellent Chinese take aways close by!!

Well what can i say! After reading these reviews before hand, we went to pontins with low expectations, but i was still shocked to see what we had let ourselves in for!
The worst part of the holiday was definitly the accomadation. The first night, we headed to our budget room. As soon as we opened the door the stench was unbearable! The room was a long way away from the main halls etc.... Anyway, we thought, we havent paid much so cant really moan. As i had a look around, i noticed numerous things like, filthy carpets, cobwebs, dirty cutlery, jiff was put round the bath and not cleaned off! The list is neverending! The last straw for us was when we pulled the sofa bed out. The mattress was BLACK with dirt. The mattress was so thin and old the springs dug in your back. I couldnt last a night on there, i got in the tiny single bed with my daughter in the end.
The next morning we upgraded to 'club'. Apparently the best of the best chalets. It cost us 70 for 3 nights. Now, this was better than what the budget room was but still did not meet our expectations. This was more like what i would expect the budget to be like! The dining table chairs were garden chairs, the room had a smell to it, and was generally very basic. The room was advertised as having 'satelite tv' which in reality it had 5 satelite channels!
Entertainment wise was very poor too. They advertised a 'HIGH SCHOOL MUSCIAL' show, only it turned out to be 4 puppets dancing to the songs and lasted 15 mins! We tried the bingo, but not enough people turned up so we had to do a 'last minute' prepared quiz.
The swimming pool was probably the best part, as it was ok and free!
My advice for everyone going to hemsby would be to use the chalet as a 'base' and venture out everyday to nearby yarmouth which has so much more to do. Also upgrade to club as this is the most reasonable of the chalets.
Other than the clubhouse and amusements and the swimming pool there is nothing else to do.
They advertised an 'adult snooker' competition, so my husband went along to find a load of 14 year olds playing instead.
One positive thing was that the bluecoats were friendly, and genuinly felt liked they loved their job!
We personally will NOT be going back again unless they improve the accomadation and put in place more entertainment!
We diddnt pay much for this holiday, (sun holidays) but even so, whats the excuse for it being dirty?????
Also the onsite restaurant was awfull! I had sausage and mash, but the mash was powdered and they hadnt mixed it properly so you could taste the powder flakes!
Me and my family never complain about anything, and we still diddnt complain once at pontins, because thats just how we are, but its just a warning for any one thinking of vacating there. DONT DO IT!!!!!

When we drove passed the campsite and i though Is that our site? It couldn't be, they look scabby. Because we had upgraded we thought we would get a better chalet. But upon arriving there was only a few things different between a classic and upgraded chalet.
- Carpet
- Sliding Doors
- Bigger TV
- Toaster
They claimed they would refill Bottles of Shampoo and Cleansing cream. and clean the chalet every day, They also claimed to DELIVER A newspaper each day. This never happend.
We had to Collect the Newspaper with a slip of paper which in handwriting said
"1x NEWSPAPER"
" DATE "
" MY NAME"
Anyone could write that?
i went to ask for another bottle of shampoo and cleansing cream and they said we were supplied with one bottle of each and they shouldn't need refilling.
They never cleaned the chalet ONCE ! No new towels. Nothing.
WHAT A POOOOOOR CAMPSITE !

last minute decision to get away, thought pontins hembsy would be a great idea, boy oh boy was i wrong!!!!
on arrival me and my kiddies went off to our apartment, i know i paid for budget but i did not pay for the slums.
on entry to the chalet there was a lovely stench that greeted us, a mouldy smell to be exact. The carpet was so dirty that the kids socks were filthy after 5 minutes. The bathhroom window had mould on it and so did the wall around the window, it smelt like pee in the bathroom, i had to clean the floor myself since it stunk so bad.
There was feces up the door frame in the living room and it was also along the wall from the bathroom, there was snot smeared across the wall in the bedroom and the carpet was badly faded and looked like it had been bleached.
There was 2 places open on site in the day time and a 3rd was meant to open at 7pm but never managed to open before 7:15pm. i ended up forking out over £90 on food alone for 3 days. the onsite shop was expensive as well.
The activitys for 4-8 year olds is limited to the inside play area and the playgorund outside, my kids were bored to death. The night time didn't get any better entertainment was drab we left at 9pm all three nights because the kids were bored the blue coats were terrible , stacy needs have more fun or even pretend she enjoys her job.
back to the apartment for the last whine, the front door to the apartment had a gap between the door and actual frame, every evening we came home we were freezing cold because of the lovely draught coming through even with the heaters on full whack it was bloody freeezing, i put the heater on in the bathroom that blows hot air out, the one in the living area but i couldn't turn the one in the bedroom since it clearly states do not cover or block when on and guess what the beds are right up against it!!!!
myself anf my two children slept on the crappy sofa bed in the living room area , with one double duvet and two single duvets on us and we were still flipping cold, we went to bed wearing two pj bottoms , t-shirts, pj tops and sweatshirts , i got so cold that i eventually had to put a fleece on as well, i was shaking and shivering, i got a maximum of 3 hours sleep per night thanks to be that bloody cold and the fact that people coming back after 2am in the morning forget that some people are already in bed, our neighbours above us partyed until 5am this morning! so after 3 exhausted nights i'm home and comfortable. both my kids are now sick and full of colds and coughing like dogs, cheers pontins for such a sucky weekend away

I have just returned from a New Year’s Jolly at Pontins in Hemsby and have to say, it was the most diabolical and disorganised New Year’s break ever!
We arrived (9 adults & 3 Children) on Sunday 30th at around 5pm and checked in; the apartments were very basic but clean and had ample room for us all. I had the kids, my partner and my mum in with me.
My friend (who is expecting) her husband, her mother and another friend were in another apartment next door, and another couple (who came with us) were based right over the other side of the camp.
We went for a look around and all seemed lovely, had something to eat and a play on the amusements, went for a drink in the onsite pub and then wandered back to our chalets, looking forward to the few days ahead!!
New Years Eve daytime, we went to Yarmouth for the day and had a lovely time, we got back to Hemsby late afternoon and the girls got ready to go for a game of bingo, while the men looked after the kids.
Well this was when the enormity of the mayhem was to unravel itself!!
We arrived at the 'fun factory' at 6pm, it was absolutely choc a bloc full of people, they were sitting on chairs stacked 2 high and maybe 4 or 5 people hogging up to 7 tables per family, between them. There must have been 1200 people in that room and it was complete bedlam.
Every table had food, soft drinks and alcohol piled high for the prospective party! (It never said that we could do that in the brochure!!) (Nor did it say we would have to get there and reserve a table at 6am!!).
We spent half an hour looking for somewhere to sit, only to be met with pure ignorance despite my asking very nicely for a spare chair or table.
I managed to asked one of the bar staff for the duty manager, who came down scowling about ten minutes later. He immediately burst out with ' I know what you’re gonna say but there’s nothing I can do', He told us we could go into the Lunar Bar, but we said we were there to play bingo... he said ' some of these people have been here since 6am this morning, its first come first serve, we have no more room.
I asked him what about the evening? When the rest of the camp would be coming to this hall for the celebrations (bearing in mind there were 12 in our party and we were one of about 12 families standing looking for somewhere to sit). He said we would have to go next door to the Lunar Bar. (There was no entertainment in this room and the bar actually shut at 10.30pm and everyone was kicked out!!).
The DM managed to find us 5 chairs (?!!!) and we sat and played bingo by the bar (and no we didn’t win!) (The discussion with the manager went on for at least half an hour and was completely pointless - he wasn’t interested at all!).
By the time bingo had finished, the hall was full of people standing, the DM was nowhere to be seen and everyone was getting tetchy.
There was nowhere to sit, the men in our party went off to the bar and the ladies and children had to share the 5 seats or sit on the lino floor in front of the snack bar! (Which was shut).
Surely this was against all health and safety regulations? We had to put our drinks glasses on the floor! And we were right next to the gangway where kids were running backwards and forwards to the amusements!
The entertainment (we could only hear it not see it) was absolute rubbish! (First a magician and then a queen tribute band (which would have given the x factor rejects a run for their money!) The kids were miserable coz they didn’t want to sit on the floor; we couldn’t relax and had to make the best of a dire situation as there was nothing we could do!
My friend who was expecting had to go back to the chalet as it was just too much for her to deal with and so the atmosphere was tainted. The kids played up because they couldn’t see the show and were bored stiff!
We saw in the New Year as best we could and then went back to the chalet feeling disappointed and jarred at having paid so much money for such poor organisation!
The next morning, the rest of our party all went home with the hump and my partner had to go too as we had all travelled up together in 3 cars. I stayed with my mum and the 3 kids (9, 6 and 2) on the promise that we would make it up to them for the disastrous night previously.
They watched Barney the purple dinosaur during the day and had a good time, until the evening came again!
Yet another night with no table! (We managed to get some chairs) We settled down to watch the show (which consisted of six people dressed as animals...prancing round the stage to a pre recorded tape) they were happy and my mum and I were alot more relaxed.
By the time the adult entertainment came on, the Fun Factory was packed again, but I have to say that within 5 minutes of an appalling Il Divo type tribute band beginning, the hall started to clear very, very quickly indeed! Their sound system wasn’t working properly and they were rubbish too! Within half an hour, we had the pick of the tables in the hall and the atmosphere was waning... It was supposed to be a themed masked ball but no-one was motivated to join in the dancing and the blue coats all looked exhausted from lack of sleep the night before!
We came home on weds and couldn’t wait, it was such a relief to get away!
Well I’m so glad that we paid out over £400 of our hard earned money in the hope of a 'brilliant New Year’s jolly break' which we were promised!
It was abysmal and diabolical to say the least! I have never known anything like it!
We went in the summer 2 years ago and had a lovely time but this, this was unbelievable and I doubt I am the first or the last to complain about the place.
One thing is certain... we will NEVER, EVER be visiting that site again, unless the management changes and the place suddenly becomes well organised and not over booked! I will certainly not recommend anyone to go there for New Year again!
The only thing I can say is that the other people who suffered just as much as us, were lovely, and the manageress who was working New Years day was very nice and apologetic but that’s it!!
Nothing else good to say!!

We booked a New Year break (12 of us including my husband, my mum and my friends mum and my friends 3 kids). Wasn't expecting great accommodation for the price and it wasn't that bad. Bit dated but it’s a budget break.
However, New Years Eve was a nightmare. Organisation was terrible, were told that if we'd wanted seats we should have got there at 8.30am! Lots of people standing all night, lager ran out at 10.55pm, people everywhere complaining, by the end of the night nearly everyone was drinking their own cans and bottles of alcohol. Everywhere was filthy, the staff were rude and unhelpful. They were totally unprepared for New Years Eve and we left early the next morning (a day early).

Very disappointed, 2nd time we have been. I would not say I was over house-proud, but we found the chalet dirty with cobwebs (even a maintenance worker said it was not clean) and we upgraded to club.
The welcome pack was an insult; needless to say we will not be going back again.

I was very shocked to read the reviews on this website as me and my family have visited Pontins Hemsby quite a few times and never had any problems... by the look of most of these reviews it seems like Some people go on holiday to do nothing but moan and complain and by some of the reviews it seems that some people thought they had booked at a 5 star hotel. A lot of the reviews made me laugh as I imagine the miserable faces as they walk around moaning about anything and everything and trying to get refunds,
My stay was good, it was clean, friendly and had lots of things for the kids to do. My kids spent most of the time in the pool where they were entertained and watched safely which gave me time to relax. The food was very nice and the entertainment was very enjoyable. The staff work very hard and are very friendly,
I will definitely be going again.

This site is like stepping back into the 1980's - Little seems to have changed from my memories of this site as a child!
The budget accommodation does not appear to have been painted since this time and the carpet is in full need of replacement! Hemsby itself is also not the best resort to stay in - unless your ideal holiday consists of Chip shops and Arcades!
The entertainment on site wasn’t too bad to be fair but make sure you don’t book budget accommodation if you do visit! Also the site is a little walk from Hemsby centre - not the best if you have a pushchair!!!